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DE. SHEPARD'S 



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DISCOURSES. 




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( ATHOLir ^ON ,P.E n-ATrONAI ■■'HURGH. ERISTCL. Z. l. 

S. H. rjJGUIS. ARCHITKCr 



TWO DISCOURSES, 



THOMAS SHEPAED, D. D. 



PASTOR or THE 



CATHOLIC CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 



BK.ISXOIL,, R. I. 



PROVIDENCE: 

SAYLES, MILLER & SIMONS, STEAM PEINTERS. 

1857. 



3^ 5 s 



To THE Eev. Thomas Shepard, D. 1). 

Sir : — The undersigned respectfully veviuest copies of the very able and ina- 
pressive Discourses pronounced by you at the closing services of their old House 
of Worship, and at the Dedication of the new Church, that the memorials of 
these interesting occasions may be published in suitable form. 

BYRON DIMAN, 
EGBERT ROGERS, 
NATHAN BARDIN, 
WM. B. SPOONER, 
and fifteen others. 
Bristol, Dec. 5, 1S5G. 



Gentlemen : — Agreeing with you that "tlie memorials of those interesting 
occasions," referred to in your note this day received, should be perpetuated in 
a more suitable and durable form, I cheerfully place at your disposal the Dis- 
courses which you kindly request for publication. 
I am, gentlemen, your's most respectfully, in the service of the Gospel, 

T. SHEPARD. 
Messrs. B. DIMAN, 
R. ROGERS, 
N. BABDIN, 

WM. B. SPOONER, Smsna uaJtmowii 

and fifteen others. 
Bristol, Dec. 15, 1856. 



■s>. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



Psalm xlviii. 12 — 13. — Walk about Zion, and go eouxd about hek , 

TBLL THE TOWERS TIIEKEOF. MaEK YE WELL HER BULWARKS, CONSIDER 
HER PALACES, THAT YE BIAY' TELL IT TO THB GENERATION FOLLOWING. 

The Psalmist felt a profound reverence for the ordinances 
of public worship which crowned the summit of Mount 
Zion, and he desired to perpetuate the recollection and the 
savor of them to the generations that should follow. He 
rejoiced greatly when he saw the tribes of Israel going up 
in order to keep holy time in the courts of the Lord ; for 
he saw a strong moral influence proceeding forth from them 
to restrain unhallowed appetites, to regulate selfish im- 
pulses, to preserve domestic quiet, to secure submission to 
rightful authority, to perpetuate the peace of the common- 
wealth, and above all, to prepare the soul for the retributions 
of eternity. Therefore, he found greater delight in the place 
of the sanctuary, than in all other places. He " would 
rather be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord than to 
dwell in tents of wickedness." God was known there as a 
refuge. The joy of the whole earth was Mount Zion. 

This world is full of change. In whatever aspect we may 
view it, there is nothing stable. Look at the earth's surface 
and mark the changes which are constantly going on every- 

*Delivered on taking leare of the old house of worship, Nov. 23, 1855. 



where. Oceans change their beds. Lakes dry up, or are 
drained off, and leave their undulating, alluvial bottoms to 
become fertile prairies. Rivers run in new channels. For- 
ests give place to luxuriant fields of wheat. The wilderness 
and the desert become a blooming paradise. The haunts 
of wild beasts give place to the populated city. The wig- 
wam is exchanged for the dwellings of civilization and re- 
finement. Looking back six generations, we find the very 
spot on which this town is situated, and from which the 
spires and turrets of its sanctuaries point upward to heaven, 
an unbroken forest ; the eternal stillness of which was in- 
terrupted only by the yell of the Indian, and the growl of 
the bear. Behold the changes of a little less than two cen- 
turies ! 

The face of society is continually assuming new forms. 
Old things are passing away. Empires are falling, and giv- 
ing place to new political combinations, which, in turn, flour- 
ish for a season, and then give place to others of a different 
character. States are changing. Laws and ordinances are 
changing. Legislators are urging on the bold experiment 
to discover the best system of human government, that shall 
combine the greatest amount of human liberty consistent 
with due subordination to lav.^, and the prompt execution 
of justice. The possession of wealth, of power, of popvilar 
influence, is as unstable as water. The men of three score 
and less may look back upon great and surprising reversion 
in the circumstances of families, involving disappointment 
and distress. Changes, moreover, pertain to the externals 
of Christianity. The form and fitting up of sanctuaries vary 

the modes of conducting public worship — the position of 

the worshippers — the style of sacred melody — the manner of 
communicating divine truth, vary from age to age. 

But in the principles of divine worship — in essential truth 
as revealed in the Word, there is, there can be, no change. 



It is as unchangeable as the source from which it emanates. 
" All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the 
flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof 
falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And 
this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 

It is in Zion that the Lord hath his dwelling place. Here 
he hath recorded his name. Hence his word is to be sounded 
forth. This is the house of prayer for all nations. The 
sanctuary is to us what the tabernacle and the temple were 
to Israel. For the pillar of the cloud by day, and of fire by 
night, which marked out their pathway through the wilder- 
ness, we have the Bible as a lamp to our feet and light to 
our path. Its repository is the sanctuary. From this source, 
our fathers derived strength and guidance through all their 
perils by land and by sea. The house of God was ever to 
our pilgrim fathers like fountains of living water in the des- 
ert, springs in a dry and thirsty land. Amid the strife of 
arms, the oppression of the mighty, the sufferings of pov- 
erty and exile, they always found comfort and support when 
they entered into the courts of the Lord, and bowed down 
in prayer before the God of Heaven. Here they found an 
unfailing refuge. In the secret of the tabernacle they could 
hide themselves, till the indignation should pass by. On 
the Rock of Ages they could plant their feet, and feel secure 
from all the assaults of the world, the flesh and the devil. 

We would call up the memory of the past, that we may 
tell to the generation to come, the order, the beauty, the 
strength and glory of Zion, as our fathers have seen it in the 
sanctuary. 

January 5th, 1785, nearly seventy-two years ago, this 
house in which we have met this day for the last time, in 
the regular worship of the Sabbath, was dedicated to God 
for this sacred purpose. It took the place of one which had 



6 

been occupied just one hundred years. Two and a half 
generations have come up weekly and worshipped God 
within these walls. And now having waxed old in its form 
and materials, it must be laid aside as to the purposes for 
which it has hitherto been used, and a more commodious, 
beautiful and attractive one occupied in its place. 

While we linger here for the last time in our regular Sab- 
bath worship, it is befitting the sacred associations of the 
hour, that w^e should retrace some of the prominent events 
in the history of this Church and Society from their origin, 
that we may tell them to the generations that shall follow 
us. 

The year 1675, one hundred years before the breaking 
out of the revolutionary war with Great Britain, found the 
few white people, scattered along upon the borders of the 
Narragansett Bay, engaged in deadly warfare with the In- 
dian tribes, at the head of whom was the famous King 
Philip, claiming jurisdiction over the whole country. In 
1676, under the well directed energy of Col. Benj. Church, 
this savage and bloody contest was brought to a close, by 
the death of the Grand Sachem, and the domain over which 
he presided fell into the possession of Plymouth Colony by 
right of conquest. 

In 1680, the Governor and Company of said Colony 
granted and sold to four proprietors, citizens of Boston, viz : 
John Walley, Nathaniel Oliver, Nathaniel Byfield and Ste- 
phen Burton, for the consideration of <£1100, all that por" 
tion of the territory called Mount Hope Neck. This town- 
ship they afterwards called Bristol. These gentlemen, with 
their associates, being of the Congregational order, and zeal- 
ously devoted to the worship of God after the manner of 
the apostolic simplicity of the dissenting churches in the 
mother country, took early measures to establish christian 



ordinances in the new settlement. In 1680, the same year 
in which their deed of possession bears date, they obtained 
the services of Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge, a regularly or- 
dained minister of the Congregational denomination from 
Connecticut. Rev. Mr. W. was a son of Rev. John Wood- 
bridge, of Andover and Newbury, Mass. He was a gradu- 
ate of Harvard College, and had two brothers, John and 
Timothy, graduates of the same College, both ministers in 
Connecticut. Mr. Woodbridge continued to labor in the 
new settlement for about six years. During this period the 
first house of worship was erected, but no church was or- 
ganized. Public worship was at first held in the lower 
South room of the dwelling house of Mr. N. Byfield. Apart- 
ments in the same were also provided for the accommoda- 
tion of ]Mr. W. and family ; for the rent of which Mr. By- 
field received c£10 a year from the town. The occasion of 
Mr. Woodbridge's removal was " a difference with some of 
the principal men in town about his support." Mr. Wood- 
bridge was minister in Kittery, Me., in 1688. He died in 
Medford, Mass., .Jan. 15, 1710. His wife was Mary, a daugh- 
ter of Rev. John Ward. 

It may be interesting to the congregation to learn more 
concerning the biography of the worthy proprietors of this 
town, and as it comes naturally in order in this place, I 
will give you a sketch of the same as far as memorials of 
them remain. 

John Walley, whose name stands first among the four 
original proprietors, was, for a season, a Judge of the Su- 
perior Court of Massachusetts, and a member of the Gov- 
ernor's Council. In the year 1690, he accompanied Sir 
William Phipps in his unsuccessful expedition against Can- 
ada, being entrusted with the command of the land forces. 
Of this expedition he published a journal which is preserved 
in Hutchinson's history. 



8 

" The high trusts imposed by his comiti;y were discharged 
with ability and fidelity. To his wisdom as a counsellor, 
and his impartiality as a Judge, he added an uncommon 
sweetness and candor of spirit, and the various virtues of 
the christian. His faith was justified by his integrity, his 
works of piety and charity. He died in calmness and hum- 
ble reliance upon the Great Mediator for mercy." He de- 
ceased at Boston, Jan. 11, 1712, in the 69th year of his age. 

Of Nathaniel Oliver and Stephen Burton we have no 
special record. 

Nathaniel Byfield was the son of Rev. E-ichard Byfield, 
Pastor of Long Ditton, in Sussex, Eng., one of the distin- 
guished divines which composed the celebrated Westmin- 
ster Assembly. His mother was sister of Bishop Juxton. 
He was born in the year 1653, and was the youngest of 
twenty-one children, sixteen of whom occasionally accom- 
panied their venerable father, at the same time, to the house 
of worship. He arrived in Boston during the year 1674, 
being then 21 years old. Having accumulated considera- 
ble property in mercantile pursuits, for which he was emi- 
nently qualified, he invested a portion of it, at the close of 
Philip's war, in the purchase of this township. Here he be- 
came an early settler, casting in his lot with the pioneers of 
the wilderness, sharing with them in the toils and hardships 
of laying the foundations of a new and well regulated com- 
munity. He continued a citizen of this town forty-four 
years. His habitation and family were here, but his servi- 
ces and influence were called into requisition in behalf of 
the public interests of the Colony of Massachusetts, to 
which Bristol then belonged. His eminent abilities, natu- 
ral and acquired, fitted him for the various offices, both civil 
and military, to which he was called by the suffrages of his 
fellow citizens, as well as by royal appointment. He occu- 



pied the chair of Speaker in the House of Representatives, 
at Boston. For thirty-eight years he was Chief Justice of 
the Court of Common Pleas for Bristol County, embracing 
the two counties now called by the same name in Massa- 
chusetts and Rhode Island. For two years he held the 
same office in the county of Suffolk ; for many years he 
was a member of the Council, and Judge of the Vice Ad- 
miralty. " He was well informed for the exercise of author- 
ity — his very looks inspiring respect. He possessed a happy 
elocution. He loved order, and in his family the nicest 
economy was visible. He was conspicuous for piety, hav- 
ing a liberal, catholic spirit, loving all good men however 
they might differ from him in matters of small importance. 
For forty years he constantly devoted a certain portion of his 
estate to charitable purposes. In one year he was known to 
give away several hundred pounds. He had a steady and 
unshaken faith in the truths of the gospel, and he died in 
the lively hope of the mercy of God through the glorious 
Redeemer."* In 1724, on account of his advanced age, he 
returned with his family to Boston, where he closed his long 
and useful life, June 6th, 1733, in the 80th year of his age.f 

We may well judge what must have been the influ- 
ence of such a man in the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of 
this town in its formative period. His name is conspicuous 
on every page of its early records, especially in all transac- 
tions pertaining to the ministry, the sanctuary, and the or- 
dinances of the Gospel. 

We cannot be surprised that under such hallowed influ- 
ences, a vote should be found on the records of 1693, " that 
every town meeting should begin and end with prayer," 
and a fine imposed upon any citizen who should presume 

*Allen's Biographical Diet. 
tSee Appendix, Note A. 
2 



10 

to leave the house, before this service was performed, with- 
out good and sufficient reasons. 

Another memorial of this christian patriot we find in the 
records of 1714, wherein N. Byfield acknowledges a deed 
conveying to the town certain specified lots of land owned 
by himself, the income of which was to be devoted to the 
maintenance of Public Schools. 

Oct. 24, 1683. At a meeting of the town, .£250 were or- 
dered to be raised to defray the expense of building a Meet- 
ing-house, and John Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Benjamin 
Church, John Gary and John Rogers, were appointed a com- 
mittee to superintend its erection. During the year follow- 
ing, 1684, a spacious and well constructed house, square in 
its form, with double galleries, cap roof, surmounted in the 
centre with a tower and bell, was finished externally, and 
dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. Not feeling 
able to finish the house internally, the citizens were permit- 
ted, by leave of the town, to construct pews, from time to 
time, at their own expense. The bell being suspended over 
the centre, and the rope hanging down directly beneath, ren- 
dered the sexton a very conspicuous personage in the as- 
sembly, while performing the duties of his calling. This 
house served the society as a place of worship just one cen- 
tury. Nothing now remains of it except a few rafters trans- 
ferred to the roof of the house which we leave, and the door 
of the Pastor's pew, a precious relic of the sanctuary where 
our fathers worshipped God for one hundred years. 

After the departure of Rev. IVIr. Woodbridge, in 1686, a 
committee was appointed by the town to wait upon Rev. 
Samuel Lee, at Boston, and invite him to become the Pas- 
tor of this vacant congregation. Mr. Lee responded favor- 
ably to the call, came upon the ground, and after due sea- 
son, set apart a day for fasting and prayer, organized a Con- 
gregational Church, and on the same day. May 8th, 1687, 



11 

was installed its Pastor. This is the memorable origin of 
the first chm-ch gathered in Bristol, and probably, the first 
of our order, regularly constituted within what is now the 
State of Rhode Island. Its original male members were, John 
Walley, Nathaniel Byfield, Benjamin Church, the famous 
warrior and conqueror of Philip, Nathaniel Reynolds, John 
Gary, Hugh Woodbury, Goodman Wm. Throop, and Na- 
thaniel Bosworth. Brothers Gary and Bosworth were elect- 
ed its first deacons. 

Rev. Mr. Lee was a son of Mr. Samuel Lee, an eminent 
and wealthy citizen of London, born in 1627, entered the 
University of Oxford at the age of seventeen, and graduated 
at Wadham Gollege in 1648, and was soon after settled in 
a fellowship. He was regularly ordained in the establish- 
ment, and settled in a Rectorship in London in 1662, but 
was soon ejected from the same by the famous Bartholo- 
mew act, whereby some two thousand of the best clergymen 
of the realm were deprived of their livings for conscientiously 
refusing to subscribe to the Popish ceremonies of the estab- 
lished Church. At the instance of Cromwell, he was sub- 
sequently settled over a congregation near Bishopgate, in 
London. He was afterwards urged by Bishop Wilkins to 
accept of a living in the establishment, but declined from 
conscientious scruples. At length, despairing of finding se- 
curity from ecclesiastical intolerance in his native land, he 
embarked, with his family, for America, and landed in Bos- 
ton in June, 1686, where he was most cordially received by 
his brethren in the faith. 

On his settlement in this town £60 were voted for his 
salary, and £50 toward building him a house. The place 
of his residence was on the East side of Thames street, which 
was then the shore of the harbor, a short distance North of 
what is known as the old Walley house.* Dr. Allen, in his 

*See Appendix, Note B. 



12 

American Biographical Dictionary, says of Mr. Lee, " he 
was a very learned man, who spoke latin with elegance, 
and was master of physic ] and chemistry, and well versed 
in all the liberal arts and sciences." Cotton Mather denom- 
inates him " the light of both Englands." President Stiles 
says of him, " he was highly venerated by the church in 
Bristol, of which he was the light and glory, and his praise 
was among all the parties and churches of both Englands ; 
for truly he was one of the most learned divines in Christen- 
dom." His published works are contained in ten or twelve 
volumes. 

In 1688, a revolution occurred in the mother country, on 
the accession of William, which promised greater freedom 
to dissenters. Much to the regret of the people of Bristol, 
and the ministers and churches generally in New England, 
Mr. Lee decided to return to his native land. Accordingly, 
in the winter of 1691, after a successful ministry of about 
four years, he took affectionate leave of his flock in Bristol, 
embarked with his family on board the Dolphin at Boston, 
and sailed for England. The passage proved boisterous. 
When nearing the coast of Ireland, they fell in with a 
French Privateer, were captured and carried prisoners into 
the port of St. Maloes, in France. After some detention, 
his wife, daughter, and two serva nts, were permitted to pro- 
ceed to London, while the husband and father was still 
held as a prisoner of war. Disappointment, solitude, and 
the rigors of winter, induced the prison fever, which soon 
terminated his valuable life, in the 64th year of his age. 
Being denounced as an heretic, his body was interred with- 
out the walls of the city. 

My hearers may be interested to know something more 
of the original male members of the church. Such a lauda- 
ble desire I am disposed to gratify to the extent of the data 
within my reach. 



13 

Among the names on the record we find that of Benja- 
min Church. Col. Chm-ch was born at Duxbmy, Mass., in 
1639. His youth was distinguished for remarkable physi- 
cal vigor and activity. In 1674 we find him living at Se- 
conet, since called Little Compton, where he had purchased 
a plantation, and begun improving it. During 1675 and 6 
he was a military commander, following upon the trail of 
King Philip and the hostile Indians combined with him 
against the English. Having successfully terminated this 
bloody contest by the death of the hero of Mount Hope, he 
settled in this town. He afterwards removed to Fall River. 
In 1689 he was commissioned by Thomas Hinckley, Gov- 
ernor of Plymouth Colony, as commander-in-chief of an ex- 
pedition against the Eastern Indians. In 1690, he was 
called out in another expedition in Maine. His last days 
were spent on his farm in Little Compton. As years ad- 
vanced he became uncomfortably corpulent in his person. 
Being severely wounded by a fall from his horse, he sunk 
under it, and departed this life, Jan. 17, 1718, in the 78th 
year of his age. He was interred with military honors in 
the cemetery on the common. Col. Church, in conse- 
quence of his long and bloody conflict with hostile savages, 
has been represented as of a hard hearted and cruel dispo- 
sition. If tried by the laws of modern civilized warfare, he 
might be liable to such an imputation. But he had a mer- 
ciless and treacherous foe to contend with, and there re- 
mained no alternative but to meet them on their own ground, 
and by their own arts of warfare, or suffer them to carry 
desolation and death in their most horrid forms, through the 
scattered and feeble settlements of the white men. Before 
the impartial historian, this veteran of Indian warfare stands 
as a man of integrity and piety, a benefactor to his coun- 
try, and a friend to his race,* 



*See Note C., Appendix, 



14 

John Gary, one of the two first deacons of the church, 
was originally a merchant in London. He died July 14th, 
1721. Nathaniel Bosworth the other deacon first chosen, 
had resided in Hull, where he established a fishery. 

Jabez Howland,* the first Town Clerk of Bristol, was 
son of John Howland, of Plymouth, who came over in the 
May Flower, and grandson of John Carver, the first Gov- 
ernor of the Colony. He was Lieutenant under Colonel 
Church. He died Oct. 17, 1732, aged 64. 

Returning to the church left vacant of a pastor, after the 
departure of Mr. Lee, we find it remaining destitute about 
the space of four years. The records of the church remain- 
ing in the hand-writing of Mr. Lee are contained in a small 
compass, and very difficult to be deciphered. They contain 
little else than the names of such as were baptized, and 
the sums contributed at each communion season, which was 
originally held monthly as it is now. Afterward the con- 
tribution was taken up each Sabbath. f The last Sacra- 
mental contribution recorded by his own hand was " Aug. 
3, 1690, eleven shillings." The last Baptism entered by 
the same hand, "July 20, Thomas Wardwell." How many 
were considered as communicants in the church at the time 
of Mr. Lee's dismission, I have not been able to ascertain. 

The successor of Mr. Lee was Rev. John Sparhawk. 
He was ordained as Pastor, June 12, 1695. Of his coming 
to this place, \ find this record — " Mr. Sparhawk came to 
Bristol Oct. 6, 1693. May God make him a blessing by 
whom we may be settled." The contribution, the first Sab- 
bath after his coming, the 8th of Oct. 1693, came to XI 2s. 

Rev. Mr. S. was born in 1672, graduated at Harvard, 1689. 
He died April 29, 1718, in the 23d year of his ministry, 



*See Appendix, Note D. 

tThe avails of these weekly collections ^lere devoted to the support of the 
ministry. 



15 

aged 46. The last entry on the records of his ministry is 
the following : " Dec. 16, 1716, taken into full communion, 
Isaac Gorham, Abigail Throop and Grace Giddings." The 
name of Mr. S., as testified by Rev. Mr. Burt, more than 
twenty years after his decease, " remained exceedingly dear 
and precious to his people." His remains were interred in 
the first cemetery contiguous to the first church. The stone 
that covered them with an appropriate inscription has been 
transferred to the East burying ground, and the letters upon 
it have been recently re-cut. 

Sept. 18th, of the same year, (1718,) the church, being 
convened at the house of Deacon John Gary, voted to " im- 
prove their privilege" in first choosing their minister, and 
then submitting their choice to the town for their concurrence. 
They then proceeded to give a call to Rev. Samuel Cheekley 
to become their Pastor. This call Mr. C. negatived. Dec. 
16th following, the church voted to call Mr. James McSpar- 
ran, a young man who had recently arrived in this country, 
as a Licentiate from the Presbytery of Scotland. Sept. 18, 
1719, the church voted to proceed to the ordination of Mr. 
McSparran, and appointed the 22d of October following for 
the Council to convene for that purpose — said Council con- 
sisted of Rev. Messrs. Little, of Plymouth, Lewis, of Pem- 
broke, Ruggles, Medralf, Osborne, and Avery, with their 
delegates. In the meantime, according to the records of 
Rev. Mr. Burt, reports prejudicial to the moral character of 
the candidate; obtained a wide circulation. Dr. Mather, 
and other eminent ministers, wrote to the church here, cau- 
tioning it against proceeding to his settlement. Parties be- 
came strong and zealous in town, both for and against his 
ordination. The Council met and spent two days in ex- 
amining into the facts in the case, so far as they could be 
brought within their reach, and then dissolved without the 
settlement of the candidate. 



16 

Sept. 22, 1720, this church, by vote, set apart Oct. 1st as 
a day of fasting and prayer. Being then without a pastor, 
and in a divided state in consequence of the dispute about 
Mr. IMcSparran, they invited the following ministers to as- 
sist them in the solemnities of the occasion, viz.: Rev. 
Messrs. Thatcher, of Milon, Danforth, of Freetown, Wads- 
worth, of Boston, White, of Attleborough, Fisher, of Digh- 
ton, Billings, of Little Compton, and Clapp, of Newport. 
Dec. 22d following, the church made choice of Mr. Na- 
thaniel Cotton for their third Pastor. The ordination of 
Mr. Cotton took place Aug. 20, 1721. Mr. C. was born at 
Sandwich, ]\lass., 1G9S, graduated at Harvard 1717. He 
was grandson of Rev. John Cotton, of Boston, son of Rev. 
Rowland Cotton, of Sandwich, and brother of Rev. Messrs. 
John, Josiah, and Ward Cotton, all eminent ministers in 
the Congregational Church. Rev. Mr. Burt says of him, 
" he was a man of singular prudence, of admirable patience, 
and undisembled piety." Mr. Cotton labored under the em- 
barrassment of the controversy occasioned by the division 
in relation to the settlement of Mr. McSparran, until his 
strength failed, and, much lamented by his people, be de- 
scended to an early grave. He deceased July 3d, 1729, in 
the 31st year of his age, and the 8th of his ministry. He 
made his grave with his beloved flock. The horizontal stone 
that bears the inscription of his name and virtues, lies by 
the side of Mr. Sparhawk's in the East cemetery. 

The ministry of Mr. Cotton, though short, appears to 
have been eminently successful. His record of membership 
is more perfect than most of his predecessors. Sept. 16, 
1722, a little over a year after his ordination, the names of 
seventy-three members in full communion are found upon 
the records of the church. From this date until Feb 17, 
1727-8, thirty-seven more were added by profession. The 



17 

last record entered under the ministry of Mr. Cotton, is the 
following : " Samuel Clark, son of Nathaniel Paine, Esq., 
was baptized Feb. 17, 1727-8." 

Rev. Barnabas Taylor, the 4th Pastor of this church, was 
ordained Dec. 24, 1729. He was graduated at ]Iarvard in 
1721. He was dismissed by the advice of a Council called 
by the church June 3d, 1740. I find no record of any kind 
concerning the ministry of Mr. Taylor. Mr. Burt, his im- 
mediate successor, says of him that " he was very much ad- 
mired at first." For some cause, of which the record is 
silent, he failed to give satisfaction. After his dismission 
he devoted himself to the instruction of youth. 

The 5th Pastor of this church v^as Rev. John Burt, or- 
dained May 13, 1741. The sermon at his settlement was 
preached by himself from 2d Cor. v. 20. The charge was 
given by Rev. Mr. Webb, of Boston, with whom he studied 
divinity. Mr. B. was a native of Boston ; born 1716, grad- 
uated at Harvard 1736. He began to preach here as a can- 
didate, July, 1740, and received a call to settle November 
following. The Council selected to assist in his ordination 
were : church in Boston, under the care of Dr. Sewall, and 
Mr. Prince ; church in do. Rev. Messrs. McGee, and Mather ; 
church in Newport, Rev. Messrs. Clapp, and Gardner ; 
church in do, Rev. Mr. Fearing; church in Boston, Rev. 
Mr. Webb ; church in Little Compton, Rev. Mr. Billings ; 
church in Dighton, Rev. Mr. Fisher; church in Rehoboth, 
Rev. Mr. Greenwood ; church in do. Rev. Mr. Turner ; church 
in Attleborough, Rev. Mr. Wells ; church in Providence, 
Rev. Josiah Cotton ; with their respective delegates. Rev. 
Mr. Fisher was Moderator, who offered the opening prayer. 
Rev. Mr. Turner gave the right hand of fellowship. On 
taking charge of this church, Mr. B. found it to consist of 
twenty-eight males and forty-nine females : total seventy- 
3 



18 

seven. During the thirty-four years of Mr. Burt's ministry, 
sixty-five were admitted to full communion, sixteen males 
and forty-nine females. One hundred and eighteen consent- 
ed to the covenant, commonly called the half-way covenant, 
by virtue of which they were permitted to present their chil- 
dren in Baptism, but not to partake of the Lord's Supper. 
This plan of admission to partial ordinances was abolished 
by vote of the church at the settlement of Rev. Henry 
Wight. Mr. Burt was esteemed as a worthy man and a 
faithful preacher. No other publication is known to have 
been left by him except a sermon preached in Bristol on the 
Sabbath following the great earthquake, which occurred 
Nov. 18, 1755. 

Mr. Burt's death occurred in the fellowing tragical man- 
ner. On the 7th of October, 1775, a fleet of British ships 
of war came up the bay and anchored in the harbor abreast 
of the town, under the command of Capt. James Wallace. 
An officer was sent on shore with a requisition for a large 
amount of oxen and sheep, for the supply of the troops then 
lyino- at Newport. While the authorities of the town were 
deliberating upon the subject, the enemy commenced firing 
with their guns elevated so as to produce no other injury 
than a general consternation among the inhabitants. A 
distressing epidemic, the dysentery, was prevailing at the 
time, of which two persons then lay dead. Such as had 
strength, and were not needed to tend the sick, fled for their 
lives. The venerable pastor, then sufiering from the pre- 
vailing malady, joined the multitude in seeking safety by 
flight. Not returning that night to his family, and no intel- 
ligence of him coming in the morning from any quarter, a gen- 
eral search was instituted, when he was found in a cornfield 
East of the town, lying on his face, dead. A Jury of In- 
quest was summoned, whose verdict was, that he died in a 
fit. His decease occurred in the 59th year of his age, and 



19 

the 35th of his ministry. He was interred in the East Cem- 
etery. 

After the death of Rev. Mr. Burt, such was the state of 
things here, and in all the towns on the Narragansett Bay, 
occasioned by the ravages of the revolutionary war, that 
the stated ordinances of the gospel were greatly interrupted. 
The few families who were not driven abroad, made great 
efforts to keep the pulpit supplied during most of this 
gloomy period. The following ministers officiated in sup- 
plying the vacant pulpit, viz : Rev. Messrs. Amasa Leon- 
ard, George Morey, Huntingdon Porter, Joseph DaVis, Al- 
len Olcott, Eliphalit Porter, Thomas Roby, Samuel Shut- 
tlesworth, Henry Channing, Asa Piper, and Jude Damon. 
Rev. Henry Wight commenced preaching here, March 14, 
1784. His ordination as the sixth Pastor took place Jan 5, 
1785. 

The return of peace in 1783, restored the captivity of Zi- 
on. After the absence of a settled ministry for eight years, 
the families belonging to this society, again rallied around 
the institutins of religion. They began the building of a 
new sanctuary. At the same time, with a view of obvia- 
ting the difficulty they had hitherto experienced in support- 
ing the ministry, they opened a subscription for a permanent 
fund, the annual interest of which, together with the income 
of the lands already in their possession, was to be appro- 
priated for the support of an orthodox Congregational min- 
ister. Their new house on Hope street was raised June 12, 
1784, and was finished and dedicated on the day of the ordi- 
nation of Rev. Mr. Wight. In October of the same year, 
the Society, consisting of about seventy-seven families, ob- 
tained from the General Assembly an act of Incorporation 
under the name of the " Catholic Congregational Society 
of Bristol."* 



*See Appendix, Note E. 



20 

Such were the prosperous cbeumstances of the congrega- 
tion at the settlement of Mr. Wight at the commencement 
of the year 1785. Mr. W. was born in Medfield, Mass., in 
1752, graduated at Harvard in 1782. The Council that or- 
dained him were as follows : Rev. Messrs. Solomon Town- 
send, of Barrington ; Robert Rogerson, of Rehoboth, Mass. ; 
Thomas Prentiss, of Medfield ; Enos Hitchcock, of Provi- 
dence, and George Morey, of Walpole, with their delegates. 
Rev. Mr. Townsend officiated as Moderator, offered the or- 
daining prayer, and gave the charge to the Pastor. Rev. 
Mr. Prentiss preached from 2d Cor. vi, 8 — 4. Rev. Mr. 
Rogerson expressed the fellowship of the churches. 

At the time of Mr. Wight's settlement, the church was 
found to contain seven male members, and twenty-nine fe- 
males, total thirty-six. 

From 1793 to 1833, Mr. W. was a member of the Board 
of Fellows of Brown University, and in 1811, received from 
thence the honorary degree of Doctor in Divinity. In 1815 
he received an assistant in the pastorate. Rev. Joel Mann 
being ordained as his colleague. During the sole pastorate 
of Dr. Wight two hundred and twenty-eight were added to 
the church. In 1828, after an harmonious connection with 
this people of nearly forty-four years, he resigned, but con- 
tinued his residence here, occasionally officiating in public 
services until his death, which occurred August, 1837, in the 
86th year of his age. Dr. Wight was a man of amiable 
disposition, catholic in his intercourse with other denomina- 
tions, respected as a minister, and his memory is precious 
to the aged few who yet survive to recall his labors in the 
days of his strength. 

During the ministry of Dr. Wight a signal revival of 
evangelical sentiments took place among the Congregation- 
al clergy of New England. The opening of the present cen- 



21 

tury witnessed a tendency to Armonianism among the min- 
istry, particularly in Boston and vicinity, near which the 
oldest and the best endowed University was located. This 
laxity of doctrine — this partial concealment of those truths 
which were offensive to unsanctified minds, but which were 
dear to the fathers of New England, originated in the soil 
from whence Unitarianism has since sprung up. This general 
letting down of Evangelical doctrine in the pulpit led to gen- 
eral spiritual languor, and lifeless formality among the peo- 
ple. But in process of time, through the instrumentality of 
causes which I have not time here to narrate, there was a 
shaking among the dry bones of the valley. The breath of 
the Spirit passed over them, and there arose up sinews, 
and flesh, and life. Simultaneouslywith this waking up of 
a large portion of the ministry to the claims of sound doc- 
trine upon their preaching, revivals of religion began to 
spread among the churches. So that in the course of a few 
years — from 1810 to 20, the lines between the Orthodox and 
the Unitarians became distinctly drawn. 

These revivals introduced a new era among the churches 
of New England. These influences upon the power of the 
pulpit and the aggressive energy of the churches, became 
mighty through God for the demolishing of the strong holds 
of sin. 

The first signal awakening of this description in this town, 
still precious in the recollection of its few surviving subjects, 
took place during the summer of 1812. Under date Aug. 
16, of this year, this record was entered by Dr. Wight. 
" God Almighty seemed to be present by his Holy Spirit, 
and to work like himself. Rev. Isaac Lewis, of New York, 
as he passed through Bristol with his wife for her health, 
was persuaded to assist the pastor for a few days, who was 
worn down by excessive labor. The preaching of Mr. Lew- 
is was greatly blessed." Several of the neighboring minis- 



22 



ters came to the assistance of the pastor. The venerable 
Bishop Griswold, then pastor of the Episcopal Church, en- 
tered cordially into the work, as did the other clergymen of 
the place. The revival became general. For a season, the 
ordinary business of the week was suspended, that the peo- 
ple might flock to the place of prayer and exhortation. As 
the fruits of this season of refreshing, sixty were added to 
this branch of Christ's visible church ; at the head of tlie 
list stands the name of Josiah Smith, then being upwards 
af tliree score and ten. 

This revival and its results prepared the way for the set- 
tlement of Rev. Joel Mann, the seventh pastor, Nov. 1815, 
as colleague with Mr. Wight. He was a native of Orford, 
N. H., and graduated at Dartmouth in 1810. Mr. Mann 
continued to labor successfully and harmoniously among 
this people during eleven years, when, at his own request, 
he was dismissed Sept. 14, 1826. During the winter and 
spring of 1820, under his ministry, another season of extra- 
ordinary refreshing from on high was enjoyed among this 
flock. The ingathering of this revival, at five successive 
communions, was fifty-six. The additions during the whole 
time of ]Mr. Mann's ministry were one hundred and thirty. 
Mr. Mann is yet vigorous and active in the ministry in 
Kingston, R. I. 

Rev. Isaac Lewis, D. D., whose transient labors were so 
blessed to this people during the revival of 1812, was in- 
stalled their eighth pastor, Nov. 1828. The sermon was 
preached by Rev. Thomas M. Smith, of Fall River. Dr. 
Lewis was a native of Greenwich, Conn., bornl77o; a grad- 
uate of Yale, 1794 ; and was twice settled previous to his 
coming to Bristol. At his own request, in consequence of the 
failure of his voice, he was dismissed Sept. 28, 1831. During 
his ministry of less than three years, seventy-eight were ad- 
ded to the church. In the winter of 1830, the Spirit of God 



23 

again descended in a copious shower. The result of this 
revival brought the above number into the communion of 
this church. Among this list, I find the names of Benjamin 
S. and Hannah Bourn, and Elkanah French, who have re- 
cently passed away from earth, as we trust, to join the gen- 
eral assembly and church of the first born in Heaven. Dr. 
Lewis, after leaving this place, removed to New York, and 
resided in the family of his daughter. He deceased in 1854, 
aged eighty-two. He v/as a good man, an able divine, and 
a successful pastor. 

The ninth pastor of this church was Rev. John Stark- 
weather, — a native of Worthington, Mass. — a graduate of 
Yale 1825, and of Andover Theological Seminary — installed 
Dec. 14. 1831, dismissed Dec. 29, 1834. During the minis- 
try of Mr. S. twenty-two were added to the church. 

The present pastor, the tenth in the series, a native of 
Norton, Mass., graduated at Brown University 1813, and 
at Andover 1816, first settled in Ashfield, Mass., was in- 
stalled here, April 30, 1835, During his ministry of twenty- 
one and a half years, several seasons of unusual religious 
interest have transpired. The first during the winter of 
1837, added six to our church. Another refreshing season 
in 1838, brought in nine by profession. The winter of 1842 
witnessed a work yet more powerful. As the fruits of this 
revival, sixty were gathered in ; at the head of the list is re- 
corded the name of Ambrose Waldron, aged seventy, and 
Jonathan Reynolds, in his eightieth year. Another gentle 
refreshing of the Spirit in the spring of 1846, brought an ac- 
cession of twelve. Another in 1852, resulted in the addition 
of seventeen. 

Thus are we favored with the testimony of the Spirit, 
notwithstanding our great unfaithfulness and ill desert, that 
the Lord hath not forsaken us. On this one hundred and 
seventy-sLxth year of the gathering of this Ecclesiastical So- 



24 

ciety, and the one hundred and sixty-ninth of this Congrega- 
tional Church, we again raise our pillar of faith, and inscribe 
upon it " EbenezerP " Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." 

Thus in our walk about this our beloved Zion, and re- 
calling the years of many generations past, 1 have led you 
in a way through which she has passed during a period of 
one hundred and seventy-six years. During this long sea- 
son, the six generations have enjoyed the labors of eleven 
Evangelical Ministers, ten of whom were pastors, averaging 
about seventeen years to each pastorate. 

Who can describe the changes that have passed over the 
civil, literary, and moral aspects of this country since the 
first white man trod this soil ! Even since the corner stone 
of this house was laid seventy-two years ago, what advance 
has there been in the arts of civilization, the facilities of 
commerce, and the accumulation of wealth ! What im- 
provement in public schools, colleges, and general intelli- 
gence ! What increase of population, and the means of dif- 
fusing the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through- 
out the length and breadth of our land ! 

When this house was erected, and the fund contributed, 
and the Society incorporated, the country had just emerged 
from a seven year's war w^ith Great Britain. The public 
treasury was bankrupt — the people impoverished. And yet 
they had been disciplined by the hand of God for mighty 
achievements in laying the foundations of a prosperous com- 
monwealth. We have no exact data by which to reach par- 
ticulars, but we do not hesitate to make the assertion that 
the building of this house, and the creation of the fund in 
1784, cost the people a sacrifice fourfold greater than what 
it has cost us to carry up, finish, and furnish yonder edifice 
of stone. While I say this, I mean it for the honor of our 
fathers. I do not design to detract aught from the sacrifice 
and self denial involved in carrying up and completing the 



25 

new house of worship. For us, it has been a noble en- 
terprise, and a grand achievement. Individuals, living and 
dead, have done generously. Next to the Giver of every 
good and perfect gift, the thanks of this Society are due to 
the Building Committee, who have devoted such a large 
portion of their time and energies gratuitously to this ardu- 
ous work. None but themselves knows the anxious and 
sleepless hours it has cost them to adjust and settle the many 
delicate and difficult questions which have come before them 
in the progress of such a complicated enterprise. Most of 
all, are our thanks due to that watchful Providence which 
has guarded the builders from injury, and enabled the top 
stone to be laid without the loss of life, or the fracture of a 
limb. 

And now, what remains but to bid affectionate adieu to 
the old house, and take reverent possession of the new ! 
In taking leave of these venerable walls, within which our 
fathers have sat and listened to the messages of salvation 
for seventy-two years — -where venerable men of God, some 
of whom have ceased from earth, and gone to their final 
reward, have been trained for the kingdom of glory, 
where the praises of God have been sung by lips which are 
now responding to angelic harps around the throne, many 
affecting thoughts crowd themselves upon our minds. This 
has been the birth place of souls. Here, blind eyes have 
been opened to behold the light of truth as it shines in the 
face of Jesus. Here, deaf ears have been unstopped to lis- 
ten with rapture to the messages of mercy through atoning 
blood. Here, multitudes have set out in the christian race 
for the prize of an unfading crown. Oh ! how hallowed to 
memory is such a place ! But it has done its work, and, in 
the revolutions of time, it is meet tliat it should give place 
to another, and a more commodious and more attractive 
4 



26 

house of worship. And while the very dust of this sanctu- 
ary will ever remain precious in our eyes, may our united 
prayers ascend to God, that the glory of the latter house 
may exceed the glory of the former. The materials of its 
walls are imperishable. Long, long will it resist the corrod- 
ing tooth of time, centuries w411 not impair those granite 
foundations, scores of generations will worship in its courts, 
and thousands of the sanctified pass up to the purer devo- 
tions of heaven. 

Dear brethren, how rapid the flight of time I What 
changes are bound up in the recollection of three quarters of 
a century ! The habitations of our fathers are crumbling 
away. Life is but a vapor. Your grave-yards are popula- 
ting with incredible speed. What benefit have you received 
from the house of God ? You have but a little while to 
live. What preparation have you made for eternity ? Are 
you prepared to meet your God ? Is Christ precious to 
your soul ? Oh ! be in earnest to secure an interest in the 
kingdom of God. " The Lord send thee help from the 
Sanctuary." In the secret of his tabernacle may you hide 
yourselves. " When the Lord counteth up the people," 
may your names all be found enrolled in the book of life. 

Brethren and friends, pilgrims on earth as all our fathers 
have been, " arise, let us go hence." 



DEDICATION SERMON. 



DEDICATION SERMO:t^; 



Psalm lxxvii. 13.— Thy way, God, is in the Sanctuary. 

No one conversant with the writings of David can mis- 
take the application of the term Sanctuary. Its derivation 
and immemorial usage point to the place sacredly devoted 
to the worship of God. That there should be places hal- 
lowed for such a purpose is as obvious to reflection as that 
Jehovah should be an object of religious homage. Long 
before the birth of the Psalmist, yea, coeval with the exis- 
tence of the race, sanctuaries of various material, architec- 
ture, and capacity, were constructed and set apart, by spe- 
cial religious service, as places hallowed to the worship of 
God, and the promulgation of his character and ways. 
Within and around these sacred precincts, the patriarchs 
and prophets, and holy men gathered, from time to time, 
especially on the Sabbath appointed for this purpose from 
the beginning, with their families, to acknowledge God, to 
learn his will, and to propitiate his favor. 

It is worthy of notice, that the first day after the creation 
of the first human pair, and the solemnization of their mar- 
riage, was a day of sacred rest. Their first employment 
was the worship of their Maker, in a Sanctuary erected by 
his own hands. Their songs of grateful praise mingled with 

^Delivered Nov. 25, 1856. 



30 

that of the angelic hosts. God was made manifest to their 
pure minds in his glorious perfections, by the mild radiance 
of the sun, the rich bounties of ripening fruit on every 
hand, the cattle grazing upon the hills, and the beasts of the 
forest dwelling together in harmony. All above, beneath, 
and around them, was good, very good. Everything spake 
of God. To the devout listeners there were 

" Tongues in trees, books in running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, good in everything." 

But man apostatized, and sought to hide himself from 
the presence of his Maker. Then was gradually developed 
that wonderful plan of recovery though the mediation of 
the seed of the woman, wherein sinners could be forgiven 
and admitted again to the presence and favor of their of- 
fended Sovereign. But he must be approached now through 
the emblem of a bleeding victim. The altar, the bethel, the 
Sanctuary became still more necessary, and still more pre- 
cious to the penitent and the believing. The way of God 
must be manifested in some place either by visions, audible 
voices, or through the medium of prophets and inspired 
men. 

We have spoken of the first Sanctuary occupied for the 
worship of the first Sabbath. We find the same spacious 
amphitheatre used for the same purpose in subsequent time 
previous to the erection of temples by human hands. It 
was in such a Sanctuary that the patriarch Jacob enjoyed 
the vision when, in his lonely journey, he slept for the night 
in the open air, with a stone for his pillow. As he awoke 
in the morning, and reflected upon the scenes of that night, 
looking upon the expanse above, and the earth beneath him, 
he exclaimed, " How dreadful is this place I This is none 
other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven." 
The same scene was repeated upon a grander scale in the 
promulgation of the Law of the ten commandments from 



31 

Sinai. The speaker on this occasion was none other than 
Jehovah himself. Dispensing with all subordinate mediums, 
the great I AM, pavilioned in thick clouds^ amid fire and 
smoke, and the voice of a trumpet, sounding long and waxing 
louder, proclaimed all the words of the Law to the trem- 
bling multitudes drawn up around the base of the mount. 
The Sanctuary selected for the occasion, was this material 
universe. Its arching was the expanded heavens ; its floor- 
ing, the solid earth ; its throne, the everlasting mountain. 
The music of the occasion was the harmony of the spheres, 
prolonged by the chorus of deep thunders, and the moun- 
tain quaking. 

The Psalmist loved to linger beneath the dome of this 
magnificent temple of God, and study the beauty and glory 
of its architectural finish. " The heavens declare the glory 
of the Lord, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. 
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shew- 
eth knowledge. There is no speech nor language — their 
voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the 
earth, and their words to the end of the world.'^ 

Such is the way of God as proclaimed by himself, direct- 
ly or indirectly, in the temple of nature reared by his own 
hands. 

But he hath ordained another revelation of his ways. He 
speaks to us in his word, which he hath magnified above all 
his name. And this is his word, which, by the Gospel, is 
preached unto you. Here we discern the way of Jehovah, 
not only in his wisdom, power, and justice, but also in his 
loving kindness, his long suffering and tender compassion. 
In the volume which is written of him in our own tongue in 
which we were born, God speaks to us by his Son. in 
temples made with human hands, through human lips 
touched with a living coal from his altar, he makes known 
his plan of human redemption. 



no 

Here nature is silent, but the Gospel is full and emphatic. 
Redemption in a world of alienated, perishing sinners, is 
the grand, all absorbing theme of the Sanctuary. It was 
faintly shadowed forth in the sacrificial firstlings of Abel's 
flock, more clearly by the paschal lamb without blemish, 
whose blood was sprinkled upon the door posts, on the 
night of Israel's flight from Egypt — typified more striking- 
ly by the sprinkling of the blood of atonement, once a year, 
by the high priest, upon the mercy seat within the holy of 
holies — foretold in plainer language by David, Isaiah and 
Daniel, who were favored with clearer visions of the fulfill- 
ment of these emblems, in the coming of the Messiah. In 
the progress of the old dispensation, we behold a gradual 
developement of this grand central truth — redemption through 
atoning blood, opening clearer and clearer, like the burst- 
ing forth of light, foretelling the rising of the fufl orbed day. 

In the fullness of time. He of whom Moses and the proph- 
ets wrote, who was the antitype of the bleeding victims of 
sacrifices laid upon the altar for four thousand years, came 
upon the earth to accomplish the work given him to do, be- 
fore the foundation of the world. 

How the Lord Jesus Christ lived in the flesh, how he 
taught, what w^onderful works of charity and mercy he 
wrought in attestation of his divinity, what sufferings he 
endured, what a death he died, in the fulfillment of his mis- 
sion, r need not describe to you at this time. Suffice it to 
say, that having finished his work, having spoiled principal- 
ities and powers, triumphing over them, blotting out the 
hand writing of ordinances that was against us, and having 
become the end of the law for righteousness unto every one 
that believeth, upon the eve of his return to the bosom of his 
Father and the throne of intercession, he gave in charge to 
his disciples, that memorable commission, " Go ye into all 
the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." 



33 

How did the disciples fulfill this high commission ? What 
did they understand to be the grand energising principle to 
be clearly laid before the minds of an alienated, ruined world, 
and to be m*ged upon their full conviction and cordial ac- 
ceptance, as an essential prerequisite to their salvation ? 
Let the chiefest of the apostles answer this question. To 
the church at Corinth, he saith, " For I determined not to 
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him cru- 
cified." And was not this the prominent theme of all the 
primitive Evangelists? — Christ the wisdom of God and the 
power of God? — Christ the hope of Glory? — Christ the resur- 
rection and the life ? — the only name given under heaven 
among men whereby they can be saved ? When the sinner, 
overwhelmed with a sense of his guilt and danger, fell 
at their feet with the trembling, anxious inquiry, "what 
must I do to be saved," they replied, " Believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 

Connected with this leading article in the christian faith, 
there are others that stand in such immediate proximity as 
to become equally essential to the saving power of the Gos- 
pel system. The universal and entire alienation of the race 
from God, wherein all men voluntarily and criminally set 
their affections on self, and the gratification of their desire 
for worldly good, forgetful of God, and neglecting the 
things that belong to their eternal peace — how clearly is 
this doctrine announced in the writings of the Apostles. 
In immediate connection with human depravity, follows in 
the system, the absolute necessity of the convicting and ren- 
ovating power of the Holy Spirit, delivering men from the 
dominion of sin, and bringing them into the liberty and 
light of the children of God. " Not by works of righteous- 
ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he 
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing 
5 



34 

of the Holy Ghost." " So then it is not of him that wil- 
leth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mer- 
cy." " Salvation is of God." While, at the same time, 
the alienated mind is left with its moral responsibility to 
choose the right, and reject the wrong — to love God, and 
keep his commandments. Hence the necessity and encour- 
agement to lay before the sinner, the strong reasons, the 
weighty motives, that should constrain him to cease to do 
evil, and submit himself to God, and give him his heart. 
Our hope of success in preaching the Gospel to such as are 
" dead in trespasses and sin," lies in bringing the light and 
power of truth so to bear upon the understanding and con- 
science, as to leave them without excuse in their controver- 
sy with God ; and then look upward in fervent supplication 
for that divine influence which alone can change the heart 
of stone to an heart of flesh. " Thy people shall be willing 
in the day of thy power." 

Not less plain and obvious to every candid mind, are the 
indispensable conditions on which forgiveness and justifica- 
tion are bestowed. I call them conditions for want of a 
better term. I mean those states of mind which are re- 
quired in order that we should become partakers of the bles- 
sings of the life divine. And these are, " repentance toward 
God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." Repentance, 
that it may be unto life, must originate in that sorrow for 
sin which sees its chief criminality in its being a trans- 
gression of the law of God. It must also be followed with 
a radical reformation of the life and conversation. Faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, implies a renunciation of every other 
source of help or hope, and a cordial acceptance of the Sa- 
vior, and a hearty reliance on his meritorious mediation, as 
the ground of our acceptance with God. 

Nor should it be forgotten, that the test of our being the 
actual subjects of these essential states of mind, consists in 



W' 



35 

a subsequent steady growth in christian grace — a pathway 
that shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. 
Our strength is not in ourselves, or in any arm of ilesh. If 
not upheld, at every step of our pilgrimage on earth, by the 
same unseen hand that first took our feet out of the horri- 
ble pit and the miry clay, and set them upon a rock, such is 
the power of remaining sin within, that we should certainly 
stumble, and fall and perish eternally. Our hope is in him 
who hath promised that none of his real flock shall finally 
stray from his fold — that all whom the Father hath given 
to him in the covenant of redemption, shall be kept, by the 
power of God through faith unto salvation. So that the 
song of the redeemed will be forever the same which John 
heard in his vision of things to come. " Unto him that 
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Fa- 
ther ; to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever." 

The way of God, through the medium of the Sanctuary, 
is signally manifested in the origin and progress of the 
church. In its foundation, laid in the vicarious sufierings 
of his beloved Son, you behold a rich display of his mercy 
and compassion. The ransom of his people was the pur- 
chase of a bleeding sacrifice of infinite value. And after 
the foundation was laid in the agony and death of the im- 
maculate Lamb of God, how glorious the grace, the com- 
passion, the long suffering, and tender mercy of God, in the 
mission of the Holy Spirit, to arrest the sinner in his proud 
defiance of impending \\Tath, and bring him upon his knees 
a suppliant for mercy — to change the bold blasphemer into 
a man of prayer ! 

The history of the church from the beginning through all 
her conflicts with the power and cunning of her adversa- 
ries — her seasons of alternate depression and elevation — of 
discouragement and triumph, is a fair history of Divine 



36 

Providence, happily illustrated by Israel's forty years' jour- 
ney from Egypt to the rest of Canaan. God has gone be- 
fore her to mark out her pathway by the symbol of a pillar 
of a cloud by day, and of fire by night. From the Sheki- 
nah over the mercy seat in her Sanctuary, he hath proclaim- 
ed the lively oracles of truth and salvation. How mighty 
that outstretched arm that could sustain, from age to ao-e, 
the wandering patriarchs, the persecuted prophets and apos- 
tles, and the bleeding martyrs, in their toils and sufferings ! 
How glorious that grace, that could wake the song of vic- 
tory at the stake, and so overrule the wrath of persecutors, 
that the blood of the slain should prove the seed of the 
church ! " Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath 
shined." 

It is our privilege to live under a dispensation more Spir- 
itual than that of the Jewish church. He who came to 
bring life and immortality to light, hath blotted out the 
hand writing of ordinances, nailing it to the cross, and hath 
introduced a new dispensation, in which the best sacrifice 
we can bring, is that of a humble and contrite heart — the 
only acceptable worship, that which is presented in spirit 
and in truth. 

With greater emphasis than that with which the apostle 
uttered the words, may we now say, " The night is far 
spent, the day is at hand." Amidst all the discouragements 
that yet becloud the prospects of Zion, we see in them a 
bow of promise, cheering us on in the belief that the night 
of infidelity and formalism — ^of superstitious reliance on ex- 
ternal rites and ceremonies — of sectarian bigotry, and phara- 
saical exclusiveness, is passing away, and a closer union 
among all who hold to the essentials of the gospel, in fel- 
lowship and co-operation for the common good against the 
common enemy, is coming up. Of one thing we are cer- 
tain, the promise of God cannot fail. The strong holds of 
satan, whether held by the man of sin, or by the worship- 



37 

pers of idols, or by the skeptical and the superstitious, must 
be demolished by the overturning of Him whose are the 
uttermosts parts of the earth by the purchase of his agonies ; 
and the church redeemed by his blood, shall enjoy its mil- 
lenial rest. 

Nor will Zion's conflicts and victories be completed, 
nor her triumph fully gained, until all her ransomed ones 
shall be safely and securely enclosed within those many 
mansions which Christ has gone to prepare for them. In 
earnest expectation and confident hope, the church militant 
waiteth for the manifestions of the sons of God. When the 
last act in the great drama of earth shall be completed, the 
curtain shall drop, and time will be no longer. A new 
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, 
will succeed those that now are, and become the final abode 
of the redeemed of the Lord out of every nation and kin- 
dred and tongue. The Sanctuaries of earth will be ex- 
changed for one vast Sanctuary above, a building of God, 
an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. 

Such being the ways of God manifested in the Sanctuary, 
it is not difficult to decide what order of devotion, and what 
themes of instruction are most befitting such a place. 

It should never be forgotten that the Sanctuary is the 
house of God. It is solemnly dedicated to his worship. 
Here he hath recorded his nam.e, and here he dwells by a 
special power and influence, that cannot be ordinarily ex- 
pected to be enjoyed any where else. How important then 
that the associations connected with such a place be exclu' 
sively of a sacred and devotional nature ! We advocate 
such an exclusive use of the house of God, not from any 
superstitious, idolatrous veneration of wood and stone 
wrought into architectural elegance and beauty, but as a 
matter of common propriety — an adaptation essential to the 



38 

highest good sought in such use. Assemblies for literary 
and civic purposes, musical concerts, anniversary festivals, 
sales for benevolent objects, may be important and useful 
in their proper place, but they are not in harmony with the 
sacred dignity — the hallowed associations of the House of 
God. Who but the most daringly impious would presvime 
to grace a banquet with the flagons and chalices of the com- 
munion table ! Entertaining the views I do on this subject, 
I must plead, with my Master, " make not my Father's 
house an house of merchandise"— -convert it not into a 
theatre of such rhetorical or artistic exhibitions as are pro- 
vocative of mirth or boisterous applause. 

" God is a spirit ; and they that worship him, must wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth." After the doing away of 
the ritual service with its priesthood, and the introduction 
of that which was more simple and spiritual, by Christ, public 
worship consisted chiefly in prayer, praise, and the reading of 
the Scriptures with a concise exposition. The prayers of- 
fered in the primitive assemblies, were such as came up 
glowing from the heart, dictated by the wants created by 
surrounding circumstances. And such, it seems to us, should 
ever be the prayers most becoming a christian assembly. 
They should be simple, childlike, fervent, welling up from 
the warm, spontaneous, outgushing of the soul, inspired by 
a deep sense of the necessities, or the fullness of the occa- 
sion. 

The melody of the Sanctuary should be simply expres- 
sive of the sentiments uttered in a sacred Psalmody ; " the 
human voice divine" always rising above all accompani- 
ments, and distinctly articulating the words, and impressing 
the sentiment upon the ear. As in the temple above, 

" Where no tongue shall silent be, 
All shall join sweet harmony ;" 

so in his courts below, we should never consider this de- 
lightful part of worship as performed in the most edifying 



39 

manner, until the praises of God are sounded forth from the 
lips of the whole congregation. 

After the repairing of the temple by Nehemiah, and rein- 
stating divine worship, it was appointed for the Levites 
" to read in the book the law of the Lord distinctly, and 
cause the people to understand the reading." In a syna- 
gogue of the Jews, the Savior, on the Sabbath day, read a 
portion of the Book of Isaiah, and then instructed the peo- 
ple as to its meaning. It is evidently God's plan, out of 
the Scriptures to make men wise unto salvation through 
the living preacher. 

The theme of his discourse should be the Word of God 
as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ment. " Preach the Word." Truth, the two edged sword, 
is the grand instrument which is to become " mighty through 
God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down im- 
aginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 
thought to the obedience of Christ." 

Do you enquire with Pilate, " what is truth ?" I reply, that 
is truth, which the most clearly sets before the mind the way 
of God as manifested in his universal government, his holy 
law, his wonderful plan of redemption. That is truth, which 
delineates man as a sinner, ruined by voluntary transgres- 
sion, helpless in himself, and lying at the mercy of his of- 
fended Sovereign. That is truth, which presents a Savior 
in his mysterious union of a divine and human nature in 
one person, through whose meritorious sufferings, received 
by faith, salvation is alone provided for the lost. That 
is truth, which proclaims a day of judgment when every 
one shall give account of himself to God, and receive a re- 
ward according to the deeds done in the body — when the 
righteous shall inherit the kingdom prepared for them from 
the foundation of the world, and the wicked shall go away 



40 

into everlasting punishment. These and their kindred doc- 
trines are commonly known as the doctrines of the Refor- 
mation. They are such as were preached by V/icklifT in 
England, John Huss in Bohemia, Martin Luther in Ger- 
many, John Calvin in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scot- 
land ; and which, under God, raised these kingdoms from the 
darkness of papal night, into the light and liberty of an open 
Bible, and an intelligent faith. 

These were the doctrines, summarily contained in the 
Westminster Assemblies' Catechism, held so dear by the pil- 
gi-im fathers, and which they instilled into the minds of 
their children, and which have become the basis of the New 
England character as it is generally known and respected 
throughout this land. Of this system of truth, sometimes 
called the evangelical system, we, as a denomination, can 
claim no exclusive possession. We hold it in common with 
many others. We only speak of its introduction, and early 
growth, and first fruits in this western world. This system, 
embraced as the creed of this ancient church, we expect to 
be preached within these walls, while they shall stand on 
their granite foundation, and become, as they have been in 
generations past, the power of God, and the wisdom of God 
unto salvation to a multitude of souls. 

Surrounded with such sacred associations, can we be 
surprised that the Sanctuary should be held in such high 
estimation by good men in every age I With what solemn 
interest did the patriarchs of Israel invest the spot where 
they raised their lonely altar, and consecrated their bethel to 
the true God with the baptism of oil and prayer ! Think 
of the cheerful offerings of gold and silver, of tapestry and 
fine needle-work, from the personal toil both of men and 
women, in building and furnishing the tabernacle in the wil- 
derness ! With what earnest zeal did the pious king of Is- 



41 

rael bring forth the ark of God from the solitudes of Kirjath- 
jearim, and set it up near his own dwelling on Mount Zion I 
" Surely", saith he, " I will not come into the tabernacle of 
my house, nor go up into my bed ; I will not give sleep to 
my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place 
for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." 

When that little band of exiled pilgrims on board the 
Mayflower neared the bleak shores of Plymouth, they sent 
forth a deputation to explore a safe place for landing. Fail- 
ing to return on board previous to the Sabbath, they spent 
the day in solemn worship in an open forest, upon deep 
snow. Scarcely had they sheltered their families on shore 
from the blasts of winter, before they erected their taberna- 
cle, and consecrated it to the worship of the Triune Jeho- 
vah. 

Just sixty years from that memorable era, the flight of 
two generations, the voice of the living preacher was first 
heard amid the primeval forests that covered this beautiful 
slope upon the Bay of the Narragansett. The original pro- 
prietors of Bristol were men who feared the Lord, and rev- 
erenced his Sanctuary as an institution essential to a well 
ordered civil community, and the hope of immortality. The 
year 1680, the very same which dates their deed of purchase, 
they obtained an ordained minister of their own order, to 
break to them the bread of life, and set apart certain por- 
tions of the township, the income of which was to be applied 
to the support of himself and his successors in office, forev- 
er. In 1684 they erected their first Sanctuary, and conse- 
crated it to the service of divine worship, which continued 
to be so used for one hundred years. 

How many tender and hallowed associations cluster 
around the Sanctuaries of our fathers, as they pass in review 
before the eye of memory. There they stood on their bleak 



42 

and solitary eminence, in their unarchitectural, unfinished 
state, devoid of tower, steeple or bell; in winter, unprotect- 
ed within by warming apparatus, in summer, the swallow 
might literally build her nest and lay her young upon their 
unceiled arches. There was the family pew with its square 
interior, so that a member could be located at each of the 
cardinal points, and every one know his exact place. There 
was the high pulpit surmounted with its pendent sounding 
board. And there stood the venerable man of God discours- 
ing from week to week, and from year to year, and not un- 
frequently, from generation to generation, of righteousness, 
of sin, and of judgment to come. Can you recall any spot 
within the precincts of your recollection, so sacred ? so pow- 
erful in its influences upon your mind and heart — upon your 
character and destinies for time and eternity ? By what 
process of computation can you reach the extent and the 
value of the moral power, which leavens and modifies the 
sentiments and sympathies, and lives of the present genera- 
tion of New England, which has descended upon them from 
these time honored habitations of God, whose very ruins 
and dust are precious in our eyes. 

Of all other places on earth, the Sanctuary will be the 
choicest to the good man during the appropriate hours of 
the Sabbath. " One thing have I desired of the Lord," 
saith the Psalmist, " and that will I seek after, that I may 
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to be- 
hold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." 
" For a day in thy court is better than a thousand. I had 
rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to 
dwell in the tents of wickedness." Who can hope to dwell 
with David in the upper Sanctuary during an eternal Sab- 
bath, that feels no such attractions to the place where Jeho- 
vah hath recorded his name ? 



43 

Nor will good men grudge or withhold the pecuniary ap- 
propriations necessary to sustain and render attractive, the 
worship of the Sanctuary. It is a law of our being that the 
things by which we are to be the most benefitted in this life, 
are to come into our possession only through personal toil 
and sacrifice. God has, in his wisdom, so ordained it, and 
let no man, upon the peril of his soul, attempt to offer unto 
the Lord burnt offerings of that which cost him nothing. 
What would have been the social, civil, moral and religious 
condition of this community, after the lapse of one hundred 
and seventy six years, if the Gospel in its purity had not 
been preached here from the beginning ? Sdtae religion we 
would have possessed ; for this is essential to the cravings 
of humanity. Whether it would have been Jiaganism or 
popery, or rationalism, or the religion of Mormon, is of lit- 
tle consequence, since the results would have been essen- 
tially the same, as testified in the history of the older repub- 
lics of Central and South America. Where there is no Sab- 
bath, or Sanctuary restraints upon the habits of the people, 
of what value is property, by what tenure can it be held ? 
Where is the safe-guard of human life ? What can there 
be that is worthy of the name of civil freedom ? What en- 
during consolation can come to the abodes of sorrow, and 
the bed of sickness, what inspiring hope to the departing 

soul ! 

These considerations were duly weighed by the original 
proprietors of this town, and while few in number, and fee- 
ble in resources, at a sacrifice of toil and money of which 
we, in our comparative abundance, can form no adequate 
conception, they laid the foundations of a Sabbath-keeping, 
church-going, christian enlightened, community. 

During about forty years from the settlement of the town, 
this Society continued alone to supply the religious wants 



44 

of the people. After the close of the revolutionary war 
which bore heavily upon the prosperity of this exposed po- 
sition upon the Bay, the friends of this Society renewed 
their efforts to secure its permanent welfare. In 1784, 
numbering but seventy families, they erected their second 
house of worship, and, by voluntary subscription, raised a 
valuable permanent fund, the interest of which was to be ap- 
propriated annually for the support of an Orthodox Con- 
gregational Minister. The same year they obtained an act 
of Incorporation, and became a body politic, under the name 
of " the Catholic Congregational Society of Bristol."* 

Such have been the efforts and pecuniary contributions 
of the founders and the fathers of this town to establish and 
perpetuate the institutions of the Gospel in accordance, as 
they believed, with the simplicity and purity of primitive 
Christianity. In these efforts and sacrifices, they have left 
an example to us worthy of our zealous imitation. 

It becomes us here to recognize the providence of God^ 
in the introduction of other christian churches from time to 
time, and their present prosperous existence among us as 
co-operators in the common cause. Although here as else- 
where, there may have existed strife and collision in the 
starting of new enterprises, yet we are happy to say that 
while we have our denominational preferences, we find no 
embarrassment from the principles of our distinct organiza- 
tion, in extending the hand of christian fellowship to all of 
whatever name, whose foundation is on the Rock of Ages. 
Holding to the Head, brethren of every name, we give you 
the right hand, both in your ministry and membership. 

On this day, after the lapse of one hundred and seventy- 
six years from the introduction of the Gospel into this set- 
tlement, we are assembled for the purpose of dedicating our 



*See Appendix, Note E. 



45 

third house to the worship and service of the God of our 
fathers.* Above, around, and beneath us, we behold an en- 
during monument of the zeal and liberality of the existing 
members of the Catholic Congregational Society, for the 
perpetuity and prosperity of the Gospel, in that simplicity 
and purity v/hich has ever been held dear to the fathers of 
New England. That which Walley and Byfield and Oli- 
ver and Burton, with their associates, did for us, in the be- 
ginning, out of their comparative feebleness, we, in our ma- 
turer strength, desire to impart, in an house of more imper- 
ishable materials, to the generations that are Jo succeed. 

In this enterprise, the accomplishment of which we this day 
witness with lively emotions of gratitude, the people have 
had a mind to work. They have offered willingly. God has 
smiled upon the undertaking. He has imparted skill to the 
architect, patient endurance to the building committee ; — • 
he has shielded the workmen from accident and injury, and 
the house is finished. And now what words can better ex- 
press the sentiment of our hearts than those used by David 
on a similar occasion ? " O Lord God, all this store that 
we have provided to build thee an house for thy holy name, 
cometh of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." 

In erecting such an house for ourselves and our posterity^ 
for the worship of God, will it be thought that we have 
made too great an investment ? In setting up such a mon- 
ument for the honor of the Lord of hosts, will any one en- 
quire " for what purpose is this waste ?" Has it not been in 
all ages a special object with the people of God to render 
the place of his earthly abode, stately, beautiful, and atttac- 
tive ? Was it not so with the Church in the palmiest days 
of the Jewish commonwealth ? Was it not so in the days 
of our fathers, according to their ability ? Is it meet for us 
in these times of abounding wealth, to dwell in our ceiled 

*See Appendex, Note F. 



46 

houses, while the house of God lieth waste ? In embarking 
in this enterprise, do we not feel an interest drawing us to- 
ward the Sanctuary, which we should not have otherwise 
felt ? Where your treasure is, will not your hearts be also ? 
Have you not committed yourselves by one addition- 
al bond to the sacred cause for which this house has been 
built ? Who is there among us that does not feel it a priv- 
ilege to transmit to generations yet unborn, such a memo- 
rial of the estimation in which we hold the ordinances of 
Christ, both as it respects the life that now is, and that 
which is to came ? In vision not miraculously prophetic, I 
seem to see in the distant future, generation after generation 
coming up hither and passing away, under the hallowed in- 
fluence of the truth proclaimed within these walls, enshroud- 
ed in their drapery of ivy, and embowered beneath the in- 
terlocking branches of the surrounding elms now bending in 
the breeze. Yes, while centuries roll on, I see this house of 
God becoming the gate of heaven to multitudes in their 
passage upward to join the purer, nobler worship of heaven. 
Surely, my brethren, you have done a good work. God will 
record his name here, and will make it, as he hath the former 
house, the birth place of souls — the goal from which many 
a pilgrim will set out on his journey to the celestial city. 
When the Lord writeth up the people, it shall be said, " this 
and that man was born there." 

But how often are we admonished that " all flesh is grass, 
and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." Some who 
were with us when the corner stone of this house was laid, 
are not here to-day. They felt a deep interest in this chris- 
tian enterprise ; they watched these walls, and their interior, 
in their progress, and anticipated the joy of mingling in the 
solemnities of this occasion. But they have passed up to 
mingle in the praises of the great assembly above. Nor 
would we recall them to the conflicts of earth, if we 



47 

had the power. One of these had sustained the office of 
Deacon in this church for more than forty years, and had 
been a member of it rising of fifty years. He was also the 
President of this Society at the time of his death. He was 
a sincere friend of this Parish, and, according to his means, 
a liberal supporter of the institutions of religion.* " Our 
fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do they live for- 
ever ?" ^' We all do fade as a leaf." What is this new and 
stately edifice, this pulpit, these pews, yonder orchestra, these 
frescoed arches ? what but one common passage way to the 
grave, the judgment seat, the retributions of eternity ! If 
they all could speak to us, would not their united voice be, 
" prepare to meet thy God ?" Oh, if these buttresses and 
turrets and pillars and arches and gildings had a tongue 
to speak for him to whose service they are this day dedica- 
ted, they would say to you in tones unearthly, " let not the 
novelty of these imposing scenes divert your minds one mo- 
ment from the great question, " What must I do to be 
saved?" Consecrated stone or wood or mortar, wrought 
into the highest state of architectural symmetry and beauty, 
cannot save you. Yonder organ, with its deep and silvery 
tones, this pulpit with the highest eloquence that shall ever 
grace it, cannot of themselves work out your salvation. Ex- 
cept ye repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ— except 
ye give your heart to God, and live to His glory, ye must 
live and die without hope. No external privileges can su- 
percede the necessity of the washing of regeneration and 
the renewing of the Holy Ghost. 

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh to you to-day 
through these scenes and services. Bring no strange fire 
to off"er on this altar. Come up hither with the sacrifice of 
an humble and contrite heart. Listen to the word as those 



*Deacon Benjamin Wyatt. 



48 

who must give account. Pray with a fervent spirit. Make 

melody in your hearts unto the Lord. In a word, worship 

God in spirit and in truth. And after a few more Sabbath 

suns shall have arisen and set, you will have offered your 

last prayer, have sung your last hymn of praise, joined in 

your last communion service, your seat be occupied by 

another, and your spirit, if purified in the blood of the 

Lamb, will pass away to the Sanctuary above, 

" Where the Assembly ne'er breaks up, 
Where the Sabbath ne'er shall end." 

Arise, O Lord, enter into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy 
strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, 
and let thy saints shout aloud for joy. Descend, O Holy 
Spirit, upon thy people assembled here, and that shall as- 
semble here " as tlie dew of Hermon, and as the dew that 
descended upon the mountains of Zion, where the Lord 
commanded his blessing, even life forever more." 



APPE}{DIX. 



Note A. 

Mr. Byfleld's original farm is supposed to have comprised nearly all of 
what is now called Pappasqua Point. His dwelling stood near the resi- 
dence of jMr. Stephen Church. His family tomb, prepared by himself, 
was located on the estate of the late William D'Wolf, Esq., and now be- 
longing to his heirs. Its remains may now be traced on the land lying 
West of the dwelling house. Here, it is supposed, were interred several 
members of his family who deceased during his residence in Bristol. 
Within the recollection of persons now living, the name of "Priscilla," and 
a part of "Byfield," were distinctly traced upon the headstone. The house 
owned by Mr. Byfield, and rented to the Society for the accommodation of 
the family of Mr. Woodbridge, and also for public worship, must have been 
situated in or near the village. 

A parish taken from portions of Kowley and Newbury, Mass., was call- 
ed Byfield, in honor of the subject of this historical sketch. In a letter of 
Judge Sewall, dated April 1st, 1704, Col. Byfield is repi-esented as saying, 
" I am surprised at the account you give me of the name of a new town 
upon the Elver Parker, near Newbury. How they hit upon my name I 
can't imagine. I heartily wish them prosperity ; and if any respect to me 
was the cause, it is an obligation upon me, (when God shall enable me,) to 
study how I may be serviceable to them." Whether he ever gave them 
any thing in return for such honor conferred, I have not been able to as- 
certain. 

The sermon preached at the funeral of Col. Byfield, was printed. The 
text was from John i, 42. " Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and salth 
of him, behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." It was a text ap- 
plicable, no doubt, to the character, as well as the name of this worthy 
man. 



50 

KOTE B. 

This lionso, built for Mr. Lee, was afterwards owned by Jeremiali Fin- 
ney, and descended by inberitance to his son Josiah, and became the birth 
place of all the children of the latter. In it was born the wife of the late 
"VYm. D'Wolf, Esq., who, with her sister Martha, occujiied, in their early- 
days, the chamber which had been the study of the venerable minister. 
There were the alcoves and niches which had been the repositories of so 
much ancient lore, and there the sanctuary where the man of God had 
written, studied and prayed. The two eldest of Mv. D'Wolf 's children 
were born in this house. It was a spacious old structure, and the only 
relic of it now remaining, is a pane of glass inscribed with the name of 
" Martha Finney." 



Note C. 



" In raising up such a man as Benjamin Church, for the defense of the 
Colonists, and in preserving his life amid the imminent perils to which he 
was subjected, the finger of Divine Providence was most signally manifest- 
ed. Church was certainly a wonderful man ; raised up for a most difficult 
service. He says of himself — ' through the gi-ace of God I was spirited for 
that work, and direction in it was renewed to me day by day. Althouofh 
many of the actions I was concerned in, were difficult and dangerous, yet 
myself, and those who went with me voluntarily in the service, had our 
lives, for the most part, wonderfully preserved by the overruling hand of 
the Almighty from first to last, — and to declare his wonderful work is our 
indispensible duty. I was ever very sensible of my unfitness to be em- 
ployed in such great services. But calling to mind that God is strong, I 
endeavored to put all my confidence in him, and by his Almighty power 
was carried through very dlfiicult actions ; and my desire is that his name 
may have all the praise.' " " He is represented by his son as constant and 
devout in family worship ; wherein he read, and often expounded the 
scriptures to his household. In the observance of the Sabbath, and in at- 
tending the worship:) and ordinances of God in the sanctuary, he was exem- 
plary. As a warrior, he seems to have understood perfectly the best man- 
ner of coping with the Indians ; and it was in battling with them that his 
success was wonderful. His surprisal and capture of Annawon and his 
warriors, was an act of heroic boldness which has no parallel in modern 
times." " He married Alice Southworth, grand-daughter of the distin- 
guished wife of Gov. Bradford, by whom he had five sons and two daugh- 



51 

ters. The wife of tlie late Deacon Sylvestei- Brownell, of Little Compton 
■was his great-gran d-daughter." — Historical Sketches of Fall Paver, by Rev. 
0. Folder. 

A broad horizontal slab of Free Stone, covering his remains in the Cem- 
etery at Little Compton Commons, contains the following inscription : 

" Here lieth interred the body of the Honorable Col. Benjamin Church, 
Esq,, who departed this life Jan. 17, 1717-18, in the 78th year of his a"-e." 

" High in esteem among the great he stood, 
His wisdom made him lovely, great and good; 
Though he be said to die, he still survives ; 
Thro' future time his memory shall live." 

Col. Church was the first Englishman who commenced the settlement of 
Scconnet. It was the burning of Deertield, Mass., that first aroused the 
spirit of the veteran warrior. On receiving the intelligence, he immedi- 
ately mounted his horse, and rode seventy miles to wait on Gov. Dudley. 

Tradition says that the old Talbee house, in this town, standing near 
the corner of Thames and Constitution streets, the stone chimney of which 
only remains, was built by Col. Church. 

We have seen that Benjamin Church and Alice Southworth, had five 
sons and two daughters. His youngest son, Charles Church, v/as born in 
this town. May 1st, 1682. He married Hannah, daughter of Col. Nathaniel 
Paine. He had two sons and five daughters. He died Dec. 31, 1746. 
Constant, the 2d son of Col. Charles Church, married Mary, daughter of 
Peter, and Mary Reynolds. They had two sons and one daughter. Peter 
his eldest son, born Dec. 12th, 1737, was the 2d President of this Society. 
He was of the 4th generation from the distinguished Avarrior. He died 
Oct. 24, 1821, having nearly completed his 84th year. 



Note D. 

Jabcz Howland, the first Town Clerk of Bristol, was the second son of 
John and Elizabeth Howland, who were a part of the crew of the May- 
flower. He was married to Bethiah Thatcher, and removed to Bristol 
about the year 1681. He had nine children, seven sons and two daugh- 
ters. Samuel, his sixth son, born May 24, 1686, was married by Rev. Mr. 
Sparhawk, May 6, 1708, to Abigail Cary, daughter of John Cary, one of 
the first deacons of this church. They had seven children, two sons and 
five daughters. His youngest daughter, Mehitabel, born Feb. 1,1724 
married Stephen Wardwell. They had six children, three sons and three 
daughters. Hannah, the youngest child of Stephen Wardwell, born Nov. 
■'3, 17G3, married Elisha May, and is now living iu the 94th year of her a'>'e 



62 

being in tlic Stli generation from Jolin Howland of the iMaj'flower. Only 
three generations seperate this venerable lady from those who first stepped 
upon Plymouth Rock. 

Abigail, the second child of the above Stephen Wardwell, and Mehita- 
bel Howland, and sister of Mrs. May, born Dec. 25, 1751, was the mother 
of Capt. William Pearse, now living in the 85th year of his age, as a repre- 
sentative of the sixth generation from the Mayllower, in the same line of 
descent. 



Note E. 



Resigned. 


Died. 


Age. 




1808 


80 




1821 


83 


1826 


1831 


69 


1830 


1855 


84 


1846 







The Catholic Congregational Society was incorporated by an act of the 
General Assembly, Oct. 1784. The first meeting was held Dec. 6, same 
vear. The legal members at this time, were 77, all of whom have deceas- 
ed. The last survivor, Stephen Talbee, died June, 184G, aged 93. 

The officers of the Society from its iucoi-poration to the present date are 
as follows : 

PRESIDENTS. 
Elected. 
William Bradford, 1784 

Peter Church, 1809 

John Howland, 1822 

Benjamin Norris, 1826 

Benjamin Wyatt, 1830 

" '< reelected, 1852 1856 79 

Byron Diman, 1846 1852 

VICE PRESIDENTS. 

Nathaniel Fales, 1784 1792 1801 81 

Peter Church, 1792 . 1809 

William Monro, 1809 1815 1827 90 

John Howland, 1815 1822 

William D' Wolf, 1822 1826 1829 67 

Benjamin Wyatt, 1826 1830 

Jeremiah Diman, 1830 1833 1847 80 

OtisStorrs, 1833 1835 

William B. Spooner,. 1835 1852 

Benjamin Pitman, 1852 1854 

Thomas Holmes, 185-4 



53 



TREASUEEKS. 

Elected. Kosisned. Died. Age. 



1784 


1788 


1811 


1788 


1792 


1812 


1793 




1832 


1832 


1843 




1842 


1844 


1850 


1844 


1851 




1851 






SECRETARIES. 






1784 




1798 


1793 




1826 


1826 


1843 




1843 


1844 




1844 


1849 




1849 







Benjamin Bosworth, 
Arcliibald jMonro, 
Richard Smith, Jr., 
Jeremiah Diman, 
WiUiam Throop, 
Martin Bennett, 
Nathan Bardin, 



JohnWaklron, 1784 1798 70 

Samuel Bosworth, 

William Throop, 

Martin Bennett, 

Henry "Wardwell, 

Bennett J. Monro, 

lion. William Bradford, the fii'st President of this Society, was born 
Nov. 4, 1728. He was of the 5th generation from Gov. William Bradford, 
one of the company of the Pilgrims, and the 2d Governor of Plymouth 
Colony. 

I. Gov. Bradford, of the Mayflower, was baptized March, 1589, at Aus- 
terfield, Eng. His father, William Bradford, died in 1591, when William, 
Jr., was about two years old. He married, 1st, Dorathy May — 2d, Alice, 
v»'idow of Constant Southworth. 

II. William Bradford, eldest son of Gov. B., by his 2d wife, was born 
June 17, 1624. He was thrice married. He was a distinguished ofHcer 
in King Philip's war, — was Deputy Governor of the Colony, and one of the 
Council of Massachusetts. He died at Kingston, Mass., Feb. 20, 1703-4, 
aged 79. 

III. John Bradford, the eldest child of William B. and Alice Richards, 
his first wife, was born Feb. 1653. He married Mercy Warren. He re- 
sided in Kingston, Mass. 

TV. Samuel Bradford, the 5th child of John and Mercy B., was born 
Dec. 23, 1683. He mai-ried Sarah Gray, of Tiverton, Oct. 24, 1714. He 
died 26th March, 1740. 

V. William Bradford, the first President of the Catholic Congregation- 
al Society, in Bristol, the 6th child of Samuel and Sarah B., was born Nov. 
4, 1728. He married Mary LeBaron, of Bristol. In 1751 he commenced 
the practice of Medicine in "W^arren, R. I. But soon after removed to Bris- 
tol and took up the practice of law. In this he was highly successful. He 



54 

was Deputy Governor of Rhode Island, and a Senator in Congress from 
1793 to 1797* 



Note F. 



This liovise of "Worship is located on the corner of Bradford and High 
streets, fronting on the latter. It has three entrances in front, and a rear 
entrance at the Southeast corner, leading into the Pastor's Dressing dRoom 
and Pulpit. It has a tower on the Northwest corner, 18 feet square, with 
buttresses, extending upward about 80 feet, surmounted with belfry and 
turrets. The full dimensions of the house are as follows: Length, 101 feet, 
■width, 67 feet, walls, 28 feet high in the clear, and 39 feet from the floor to 
the apex of the nave of the main arch. The style of the architecture is 
gothic. The trimmings and buttresses are pure granite, the filliug up is of 
a stone somewhat difierent in quality, presenting a natural face, and a 
pleasing variety in figure and color. The roof is covered with slate and 
tin. The interior is finished with groin arched ceiling, with eight pen- 
dants, or corbels, for springing the arclies, and from which depend the 
chandeliers. The pews are circular and trimmed with black walnut. The 
upholstering is of crimson damask, and covers the whole surface, both back 
and front. They are 114 in number on the ground floor, and 30 in the 
galleries. The floor is thoroughly carpeted in both pews and aisles, in corre- 
sponding colors. The pulpit is furnished with a settee of black walnut. 
The communion table and chairs of the same material. The recess back 
of the pulpit is richly frescoed, as are also the arches in the ceiling of the 
roof. The organ, made by the Messrs. Hook, of Boston, at an expense of 
S2000, is finished to correspond with the interior of the church — the case 
is gothic, 34 feet high and 14 wide. It has 32 registers or stops. The oi'- 
chestra is dropped within a few feet of the main floor. The whole interior 
is lighted with gas. The architect was Seth Ingalls, Esq., and the master 
builder of the stone work, AVilliam Ingalls, both of New Bedford. The 
wood work was executed by Messrs. Bunn & Lindsey, of Bristol. The 
frescoing by J. S. D'Orsey, of New York. The building committee were 
Messrs. William B. Spooner, JMessadore T. Bennett, Josiah Gladding, 
William U. Church, Stephen T. Church and Nathan Bardin. 



*See Genealogy of the Bradford family, prepared by Gen. G. Fesseaden, for Hist, and 
Geneal. ilegister, Jan. 1850. 



55 

The Coinmunion Service consists of tv:o Cups, inscribed as " tlie gift of 
Nathaniel Byfield, 1693." One Cup, "the gift of the Kev. John Spar- 
hawk, 1718. 

Three Ciqis," to the Bristol Nonconformist Church, March 29, 1723." 
The donor is not known. 

Two Cups. " The gift of Hon. Nath. Blagrore, 1745." 
Two Flagons — The gift of two sisters, members of the Catholic Con- 
gregational Church in Bristol, August, 1855. 

This entire service, both Cups and Flagons, are of pure silver. 

A massive Baptismal Font of White Sand Stone, beautifully wrought, 
was presented to the Church by Kcv. J. Lewis Diman, of Fall River, Mass. 



L3 S '12 



